Charleston is the last stronghold of a unified American upper class; the last remainingAmerican city in which Madeira and Port and noblesse oblige are fullyand widely understood, and are employed according to the best traditions

FOREWORD

Though much has been written of the South, itseems to me that this part of our country is less understoodthan any other part. Certainly the South, itself,feels that this is true. Its relationship to the Northmakes me think of nothing so much as that of a pretty,sensitive wife, to a big, strong, amiable, if somewhatthick-skinned husband. These two had one greatquarrel which nearly resulted in divorce. He thoughther headstrong; she thought him overbearing. Thequarrel made her ill; she has been for some time recovering.But though they have settled their difficulties andare living again in amity together, and though he, man-like,has half forgotten that they ever quarreled at all,now that peace reigns in the house again, she has notforgotten. There still lingers in her mind the feelingthat he never really understood her, that he never understoodher problems and her struggles, and that henever will. And it seems to me further that, as isusually the case with wives who consider themselves misunderstood,the fault is partly, but by no means altogether,hers. He, upon one hand, is inclined to pass thematter off with a: "There, there! It's all over now.Just be good and forget it!" while she, in the depths ofher heart, retains a little bit of wistfulness, a little[Pg viii]wounded feeling, which causes her to say to herself:"Thank God our home was not broken up, but—I wishthat he could be a little more considerate, sometimes, inview of all that I have suffered."

For my part, I am the humble but devoted friend ofthe family. Having known him first, having been fromboyhood his companion, I may perhaps have sympathizedwith him in the beginning. But since I havecome to know her, too, that is no longer so. And Ido think I know her—proud, sensitive, high-strung,generous, captivating beauty that she is! Moreover,after the fashion of many another "friend of thefamily," I have fallen in love with her. Loving herfrom afar, I send her as a nosegay these chapters gatheredin her own gardens. If some of the flowers are ofa kind for which she does not care, if some have thorns,even if some are only weeds, I pray her to rememberthat from what was growing in her gardens I was forcedto make my choice, and to believe that, whatever the defectsof my bouquet, it is meant to be a bunch of roses.

J. S.

October 1, 1917.

The Author makes his grateful acknowledgments tothe old friends and the new ones who assisted him uponthis journey. And once more he desires to express hisgratitude to the friend and fellow-traveler whose illustrationsare far from being his only contribution to thisvolume.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

[Transcriber's Note: Illustrations were interleaved between pages in the original text. In this version,they have been moved beside the relevant section of the text. Page numbers below reflect the position of theillustration in the original text but links link to current position of illustrations.]

FACING PAGE

Charleston is the last stronghold of a unified American upper class;the last remaining American city in which Madeira and Port andnoblesse oblige are fully and widely understood, and are employedaccording to the best traditions